By Fi Edwards, Founder + Managing Director
Smartphones are great. They’re calendars, cameras and TVs. You can do your banking on them. You can avoid wardrobe fails by checking the weather on them. And occasionally, very occasionally, you might even use them to make a call. Most of us prefer to email, Slack and WhatsApp our way through life these days. But what about the stuff we’re missing out on by not picking up the phone?
At Skin and Blister we have a ‘phone first, email second’ policy. It’s not that we hate emails, we just believe that the very best way to create, maintain and improve relationships is by using video calls, phone calls or face-to-face conversations.
It sounds obvious, but speaking to a human means you can hear what they have to say. You can pick up on their tone of voice, and stress levels. They can voice their honest opinion, without slipping into the formal and clichéd language of email. And listening to their point of view can prevent misunderstandings – like when somebody writes “regards” instead of “best regards” and you spend the next half an hour wondering whether that’s passive-aggressive code language for “I hate you”.
A phone or video call also teaches you a lot about a person’s mannerisms. Do they get straight to the point, with little time for small talk? Do you struggle to say a word because they’re talking about their weekend? That information will give you valuable insight into their personality and how best to work together.
So next time you need to get in touch with somebody you work with, why not ditch the emails and give them a call instead?
This article was first published on our LinkedIn page:
There are 5 billion phones on the planet. So why aren’t we using them? by Founder + Managing Director Fi Edwards